Firstly, thanks to Garry and Steve for organising an excellent event. I’m sure you must be very satisfied with the dramatic end result, after the effort you put in over the last few weeks. (Apologies for shooting off immediately after the Camber/Swift game btw, I had to get back as we had guests).

The venue itself was fantastic. I mentioned before the event that I may be distracted, it being the last day of the Championship season. The fact there was a bar with Sky Sports News and comfy sofas right outside the room contributed to a very enjoyable day – not to mention that Sheffield Wednesday avoided relegation with a comfortable win over Norwich (and Sheffield United missed out on the play-offs ).

So, before we’d even got to the final ‘crunch’ matches I’d had an excellent day – I’d taken a few thrashings but overall I was far more competitive that at the recent London International.

As usual I forget the details, but here are the games that stick in my mind:

Jon G 6-3 John WThis was the first game we played in the tournament. I thought I may as well warm up with games I was guaranteed to lose anyway I was really up for this game, Jon absolutely thrashed me at the London International so if I could be competitive to any degree I would be happy.I played pretty well (scoring a neatly executed deep cross / header along the way) and as the game was coming to a close Jon was leading 4-3 and I was competing well. Alas, quality prevailed in the end and Jon won comfortably.

Steve E 8-1 John WNext up was Steve E. I declared before the match that he was my most hated opponent (in a good sense of course) at the London International – the speed of his game left me totally disorientated.So again, this would be a damage limitation exercise. On the face of it (8-1!) I seem to have totally failed. I don’t recall details apart from that I was successfully hanging in there. I was only 2-1 down at half time but soon after I missed an open goal – after that Steve ran away with it.

John W 2-2 Wayne LA little later on I played Waynie. I’d amassed a few points by now, got into my stride and was really up for this game. I’m not sure what happened but out of Waynie’s many efforts (particularly in the second half) only 2 went in and I took advantage and hung on for a result.

All a bit of a blur after this – but after loads more games, a couple of pints and watching the results of the Championship Football…

Robert S 7-1 John WI don’t know why but I seem to turn off a little when playing against Robert. That changed part way through this game however. It was very near the end of the tournament and Robert was desperate to improve his goal difference as Steve E’s and Jon G’s was superior. He declared this to me (indeed apologised for taking advantage) so I felt it was my duty not to fold. The transformation was complete as I heard Steve E over my shoulder shouting ‘Come on John, think of the Wednesday!’. After a 6-0 deficit at half time I was kind of happy with 7-1.

John W 2-3 James BAlways best to play the very good players when they’re out of practice (apart from Camber it seems). I gave this a really good go but couldn’t quite scrape a result. There was an incredibly comical moment: I fired a short range shot that hit the post and the ball pinged straight back to the guy who shot it, only to do the exact same thing again (blast it against the post – like a fcking idiot) before Fisher gathered it.

John W 2-3 Garry CMy game against Garry at the London International was probably the best game I played there – very tight and competitive. This one was even better however. I don’t know about Garry but I was absolutely determined to win, resulting in an extremely intense contest. Congratulations to Garry for the win and I look forward to next time!

…and that was me done.

The deciding Camber/Swift game was, of course, the icing on the cake – it’s been well documented already so I won’t go into further detail except to add that Camber’s last goal (that made the result 3-3 with 14s to go, and ultimately handed the trophy to Jon G) was absolutely fantastic.There was no trademark lobbing cheesiness here – IIRC it was an elite dribbling effort right up the middle of the park with a cool finish (although the imminent video may prove me wrong). A tremendous effort considering the context this was scored in.

Really enjoyed your write-up, John - always good to read of another players' matches and experiences

John Wilson wrote:John W 2-3 Garry CMy game against Garry at the London International was probably the best game I played there – very tight and competitive. This one was even better however. I don’t know about Garry but I was absolutely determined to win, resulting in an extremely intense contest. Congratulations to Garry for the win and I look forward to next time!

How tight was that game - phew!!! Rode my luck to hang on the win but may well be different next time. Like you, I look forward to the battle next time

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